There are few things that make me as happy as seeing Son and Daughter take care of each other. Being an only child, I’ve never had that connection with anybody. On the other hand, having always been just me is the only way I know, so I’ve never really missed it, either.

(Although, Mom likes to tell the story about me hugging our dog, and whispering into his ear my joy about getting a new pair of skates for Xmas.)

I love seeing Daughter rush up the stairs from her kindergarten to Son’s classroom just so she can say bye to him. It melts my heart. She’ll run to him, give him a hug, and they say, “See ya outside, later!”

Or, watching Son stop and wait for her, when she tags along when Son and his buddies play outside.

And hearing the concern in Daughter’s voice when she gets a cookie while Son is somewhere else: “What about him? Where is his cookie?”

They’re a team. A great team.

I like to see that connection like I like to watch Hollywood stars deliver their Oscar speeches and thank all the people who have helped them along the way.

A few months after I had moved to Sweden, I woke up one morning and turned on the TV. Back then, I reached out to the remote while still half asleep, and listened to the Finnish TV while trying to get up and out of the bed.

That morning, the big news was HJK Helsinki beating Portuguese Benfica in the Champions League in soccer. HJK was the first Finnish team to qualify to group stage of CL, and that win was their first.

The sports news obviously showed the two Finnish goals, and then, two barechested Helsinki guys jumping up and down in the stands, on that cool- very cool – October night.

And I cried because they looked so happy.

For me, the best part of a Stanley Cup final, or any sports event, is the post-game celebration. I don’t want the players to go around thanking the fans, because the fans don’t matter. I stay in the stands to watch teams celebrate championships because at that moment, it feels that they will walk together forever and you can see their love, their bond to each other. Right then and there, they truly are inseparable and united – like blood brothers.

Or brothers and sisters.